There’s an argument to suggest that Bad Guys are becoming less obvious these days. The foreign accent, the peg legs, and the sinister beard stroking has all disappeared from our screens. The monsters have gone, the masks are off and the costumes gone.
Villains are becoming more subtle in their approach. The Bad Guys walk among us and hide behind a shield of normality. They lure us into a false sense of security. Sometimes they seem like they might be genuinely nice guys. Sometimes it seems that perhaps, they aren’t all that bad, they’re just misunderstood.
We understand that bad guys come with a history. And we, the audience, want to know: How did they turn into a Bad Guy? What went wrong for them? What made them flip the lid and turn to the dark side?
Then there are the actors who just seem born to play bad guys. The Bad Guys who turn up to play the Bad Guy. These actors are so good at being Bad Guys that you’re still suspicious of them even when they’re not playing Bad Guys.
Here’s a breakdown of the top five Born to be Bad, Bad Guys on TV
Alan Rickman
Ever since Hans Gruber ruined Christmas for everyone at the Nakatomi Plaza in 1988, it’s hard to trust Alan Rickman would be anything other than a bad guy.
Robert Patrick
Never has anyone played a more sinister-looking naked bloke than Robert Patrick as the T-1000.
Hugo Weaving
A suit, sunglasses and a foreboding way of saying “Mr Anderson” are all the tools Hugo Weaving needs to be a seriously terrifying chap.
Christopher Walken
You only need to hear his voice to be 100% convinced that this guy means business. Walken is a unique hybrid of mastermind villain and your girlfriend’s dad.
Bryan Cranston
Chemistry teacher and timid husband turned ego maniac and drug-lord. Did we ever see the formally goofy father in Malcolm in the Middle making the transition to Bad Guy? After seeing him as the megalomaniac and Five-star methamphetamine chef Walter White, will we ever see him in an innocent light again?
